Starting_with_Psychology_Tma_01

TASK 1: How can the way in which we organise our thinking by using mental images, concepts and schemas help us improve our memory' Part A: Essay Plan INTRODUCTION: Explain what I hope to accomplish with the essay. MAIN BODY Mental Images What is a mental image' What is it used for' Example of mental imaging. Experiment on mental imaging. Concepts What is a concept' What are they used for' An experiment on concepts. Schemas What is a schema' What are they used for' An example of schemas. SUMMARY: Sum up the essay in a small paragraph. P.I/ A9863786 Page 2 Part B: Essay of 1000 words How can the way in which we organise our thinking by using mental images, concepts and schemas help us improve our memory' This essay will describe what mental images, concepts and schemas are, as well as explain how they help us learn and improve our memory. It will also cite evidence from experiments to show how they do this, as well as what an individual can do to use these methods to aid in their learning and/or help their memory. Spoors et al (2010) states that a mental image is when we think in pictures as opposed to semantic thoughts (thinking in words). Mental imaging is used to remember spoken and written information, by forming a mental picture of the information. By using the mental picture, the effort to form the picture helps to fix it to the mind and help keep it there. It is quite a good idea to use unique, big and brightly coloured pictures, as we have a tendency to remember unique or outlandish items as opposed to those we may see everyday. Raugh and Atkinson in 1975 carried out the key words technique experiment in which two groups of participants were asked to learn a list of sixty Spanish words, one group using the key words technique. The group using the technique scored on average 88% as opposed to an average 28% score by the other group. (Spoors et al, 2010, p. 37) An example using the key words is the Bengali (an Indian regional language) words 'boka chele', PI/ .A9863786 Page 3 which directly translates into silly boy. 'Boka chele' is pronounced book-a chi-le so the mental picture of a boy playing with a book made of chilli's comes to mind. Because it would be very silly to play with a book made of chilli's, this mental imaging would help in remembering the words meanings. A concept is a category where we put objects, places and other things into groups. Some concepts like animals could contain sub concepts as birds, mammals or reptiles (Spoors et al, 2010, p. 40). Concepts are used for recognition, such as knowing that a television is a television by its defining features, such as it has a screen or you connect a DVD player to it and so on. A concept also helps in putting things into categories like the animals example above or something as simple as different movie genre's, such as comedies, thrillers or horror as opposed to just a movie. Bousfield in 1953 carried out an experiment where participants were asked to learn a list of sixty words that could be divided into four categories. Although they were presented to participants randomly, they remembered them in their respective groups. For example if they remembered the word apple, they may remember the word peach next. Or even if they remembered bed they may then remember armchair. This is because one word will cue another from its respective concept. (Spoors et al, 2010, p. 42) In the study of psychology for example concepts can be formed about the different areas of the subject as more is known about these areas. Spoors et al (2010) states that a schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps us organise and interpret information as a result of our experiences. Schemas are where knowledge about objects, situations or people are stored. A schema includes all of our knowledge on a subject. For example, the schema, when considering the idea of a swimming bath, would give the idea of all things one would PI/ .A9863786 Page 4 associate with swimming bath such as water, life guards, chlorine, bikini's and diving boards amongst others. Schemas are used to categorize our thoughts into groups,such as everything we know about swimming pools or any other subject. They give our memory cues so we have an idea of what to expect at such places. And we save schemas after our first time doing something so we know what to expect the next time. Another example of a schema is when we pass judgement or the first impressions we have. Schemas help us with learning and memory. This is evident in the fact that children learn by using schemas. Young children use them in such a way to tell the difference between cats and dogs or cars and vans. Although it is simple for us to tell these differences, we couldn't as small children. we may have associated everything with hair, four legs and a tail as a dog, but this obviously is not the case (Spoors et al, 2010, p. 44). Thus we can see how mental images, concepts and schemas can assist in learning new information and improving the memory. Mental images can help in learning a new language by using the key words technique, exampled above. They can also help in learning new words in our own language. For instance “plasticity”, imagine a plastic brain and when learning new information, the brain inflates. This could symbolise the brain changing as one learns new information. Or in the case of concepts, this can help more with recognition, categorization and memory. For example, for someone training as a mechanic, by forming a concept of the tools of the trade they would then be able to tell the difference between a spanner and a wrench. Concepts also allow people to categorise information, such as in an office, when filing documents it would tell someone what category the documents should be filed PI/ .A9863786 Page 5 under. as a concept would form on which files belong with which others.Sales people also remember their scripts or their sales pitches because of concepts, and that one word in a sentence may cue the next piece of information. Schemas however, although they do work in a similar fashion to concepts, as far as organisation is concerned, help more with setting expectations. If someone was going to an interview, our previous interviews would have formed a schema on what we should do for an interview. it is the schema that reminds them to dress smartly and to be clean and tidy, as it would go against most peoples schemas to go to an interview in a pair of torn jeans and a dirty t-shirt. Hence all of these are useful in learning new information or in improving ones memory. In summary, this essay has explained what mental images, concepts and schemas are. Using evidence from experiments involving each of these. the essay has attempted to explain how they work and their purposes, as well as giving examples of how they can be used as an aid in learning new information or help improve our memory. -----------------------X------------------------ Word count: 1041 Bibliography: Spoors et al, 2010, Starting with Psychology. P.I/ A9863786 Page 6 TASK 2: 1.In Task 1 the parts I found most difficult were, firstly referencing correctly, for example, (Raugh and Atkinson in 1975) and not putting the title of the book. Also, after explaining what mental images etc are and giving examples of them and citing evidence, and putting this in my own words how they can help with learning and memory, just because the words were already there and I kept repeating myself. What I found easiest was taking the direct quotes, and indirect quotes from the book and my notes because of the time I spent reading and taking notes, I knew where to look for these. 2.What I could do next time to make referencing easier is, just mark the quotes with numbers 1, 2, 3 and in the bibliography at the end, put a key so that it may be easier to refer to. ------------------------------------X----------------------------------